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Jailed Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy has not given up the fight against the “draconian verdict” against him, but he is unsure if he will appeal an Egyptian court sentence that could see him spend another 7 years behind bars.

The trial against Fahmy, a dual Canadian-Egyptian citizen, and the two journalists he worked with in Egypt has been overwhelmingly condemned as unjust. Fahmy was the Egyptian bureau chief in Cairo with Al-Jazeera English. He and his colleagues, Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed and Australian Peter Greste, have been detained in Egypt since Dec. 29, 2013.

Fahmy released a statement to the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression on Thursday saying he has not yet made the difficult decision to appeal the seven-year prison sentence he received last month on charges of aiding the Muslim Brotherhood and spreading false news. The Muslim Brotherhood is labelled a terrorist group in Egypt.

While Mohamed and Greste have said they will appeal, Fahmy said he has yet to decide because he has no faith in the Egyptian judicial system.

Fahmy said all faith was lost after reading the judgment and the “audacity of the judge” who, among other things, ignored his defence and disregarded contradictory testimonies. The trial has been widely condemned for hearing fabricated evidence to create an appearance of a criminal conspiracy.

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“On paper, my situation is different than where Baher and Peter stand regardless of the sentences. The judgment indicated that I am convicted of masterminding the ‘terror operation’ only because in reality I was the Al-Jazeera bureau chief, and the makeshift office and suite rooms in the Marriott were under my name including all its content, staff computers, cameras and hard-disks,” he wrote.

Hundreds of so-called incriminating videos are listed against him even though his defence was never allowed access to them, said Fahmy, a graduate of the City University in Vancouver.

“Baher and myself are accused and wrongly convicted of being members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Where is the evidence of that to convict us and what are the criteria presented by the court to prove our affiliation? I don’t remember filling out the application. Instead they jailed us in the terrorist wing of Scorpion prison with hard-core jihadists affiliated with Al Qaeda and fighters who just returned from Syria and Libya, including Mohamed al-Zawhiri and men who fought alongside bin Laden in Afghanistan,” he wrote.

Both Fahmy and Greste are respected foreign correspondents, both having worked at times for CNN. Press freedom and news organizations have rallied for their release.

“If an appeal is accepted months from now, we will be paraded in whites again in the circus of a retrial. I still believe in the back-room unannounced diplomatic efforts ongoing with the Egyptian government that even took place during the recent Gaza ceasefire talks, held in Cairo by prominent diplomats,” he wrote.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minster John Baird’s office has said it is using quiet diplomacy to secure Fahmy’s release.

“We are innocent and the world may be understandably too busy with the wars in Gaza, Israel, Iraq, Syria and Ukraine to realize that the degrading 57-page judgment report explaining reasons for the verdict completely ignores the 12 hearings and seven months we have spent in prison,” he wrote.

“I am hopeful that a breakthrough may happen sooner rather than later but I am conversing with many lawyers and still assessing options,” he said.

Fahmy's statement does not show that he is giving up on the appeal process, said Tom Henheffer, executive director of CJFE.

“He is extremely frustrated, that is for sure, but he has a pretty incredibly steely resolve. Not only is he doing everything he can to fight this he is trying to further himself while in jail. He is a tenacious person. This statement very much illustrates that he is trying to show the world the process is corrupt,” Henheffer said.

“He hasn't said he is definitely not appealing either. I think there is a good chance that he will, but he wants to bring attention to the fact that whether he does or not the system is still enormously corrupt.

“As much as (Egyptian President Abdul Fattah) al-Sisi wants the judiciary to appear independent, it very obviously isn't. It is beholden to the will of its political masters,” Henheffer said.

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